The Boy To Remember
by sunnyclydethegenius
Summary: Artemis was recruited by Cherub, but they don't know about his shady background. He tries to fit in, because he has no other way to look after the twins, after his parents died in a plane crash. He expects a happier life, but when Jon Spiro escapes from prison, he gets a lot more than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1: Kidnap

**The Boy to Remember**

Artemis sat in the psychiatrists office, whilst the psychiatrist in person sat looking at Artemis with curious eyes whilst annoyingly tapping against the chairs leather armrest. Artemis slowly lifted both of his ice blue eyes to match the dark brown ones opposite him.

"Would you like a drink?" offered the fat man in the chair. "By the way, I'm Doctor Mason. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled nervously, holding out his hand for Artemis to shake.

_Doctor? _Artemis thought to himself. _I bet you are._ He stared at the shaking hand in front of his face until Dr Mason decided to wipe his sweaty palms on his trousers.

"A drink would be lovely." Commented Artemis. " Earl Grey please, if you have it." The side of Artemis's mouth slowly turned upwards into a smirk as he watched Dr Mason splutter his reply. " Um, err… well, sorry there's no Earl Grey, but we do have PG tips. Mason pulled himself out of the leather armchair before waddling over to the kettle and making the tea.

It took a while for the kettle to boil so Artemis's eyes began to wander the room. There was nothing out of ordinary, for a psychiatrist that was. Pieces of paper littered the old, wooden desk and surrounding floor, an ornate rug lay proudly beneath his feet, a fresh coffee stain just on the corner. A barely hidden globe collected dust in an alcove behind a bookcase full of old classics such as Jane Austins 'Pride and Prejudice' and, Artemis's favourite, Lewis Carrol's 'Alice in Wonderland'.

Artemis recalled his favourite line from the book, " I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."

_So true,_ He thought, chuckling to himself quietly.

Dr Mason sat back down after handing Artemis his drink, he took a sip, Artemis doing the same. Nothing was said for what seemed like infinity, Artemis could feel his consciousness slipping away from him. _Not again_ he thought, as he drifted off.

...

**Hey! Thanks for reading, chapter 2 is in progress. Please review. Its actually my first, so no flame please.**


	2. Chapter 2: Waking Up

Artemis woke up slowly, his icy eyes flickering. Memories of the day before filled his head nd suddenly he was wide awake. He had been drugged! But how? In the tea, of course, how could he have been so stupid!

Artemis mentally slapped himself with his eyes tightly shut. The only question was, where was he?

Artemis listened out for sounds, just like Butler had told him to if he was in a situation like this. When all he got was silence, Artemis steadily opened his eyes.

What he saw shocked him. The young boy was lying underneath a white duvet on what seemed like an expensive double bed . The room was huge and had stark white walls.

"I think white is the main theme here." He whispered to himself.

He extracted himself from under the thick duvet with a bit of effort, but he realized he was naked and dove straight back under as the cold air shocked his senses.

"D'Arvit!" He almost yelled. The fairy communicator disguised as a ring was gone from his middle finger. Artemis scrambled round the white sheets before he realized that, if whoever brought him here had taken his clothes then they would obviously have taken the ring as well.

"Don't worry" Artemis reassured himself. "They won't know anything."

The juvenile genius looked around the white room, stretching. A cardboard box was sitting on the table next to the bed. The clothes inside were definitely not to Artemis's taste, but seeing as he had nothing else to wear he gingerly pulled the fresh garments onto his body.

The t-shirt was bright orange, too orange for Artemis's liking, and printed in the middle was the picture of a baby standing on a globe, just above Europe and both Americas. The word C.H.E.R.U.B was printed around the globe in bold lettering.

"Hmmm, cherub?" Questioned Artemis, rolling the word around his tongue, the name sounded familiar to him.

"Cherub. Cherub. Cherub. Where have I heard that name before?" Artemis scratched his head.

"Of course!" He blurted, to nobody in particular. C.H.E.R.U.B. Charles Henderson Espionage Research Unit B. He had investigated them briefly during one of his internet trawls. It was a secret service for kids, so secret that even Artemis had a hard time trying to get information. He knew that it had been founded by Charles Henderson during World War 2, but that was all. And that didn't help the fact that Artemis still had no idea where he was.

...

Outside the room was a corridor, Artemis searched the walls for any sign pointing to where he should go, but he found nothing. _Of course there wont be any signs,_Artemis to told himself, _this is a secure facility, everyone inside knows where to go._

__An adult appeared at the end of the corridor, followed by a teenager, both were wearing t-shirts similar to Artemis's, but the adult's was white instead of orange and the teenager's t-shirt was grey.

"Excuse me" Artemis asked the strange couple. "I was wondering if you knew where i should go."

"Sorry, can't talk to orange" was the reply, the adult winked at him, pointing towards the lift at the opposite end of the corridor he had just come from. Artemis nodded his thanks and hurried of in that direction. The lift was confusing, there was so many buttons and Artemis hadn't been told which floor to get off at. He decided to get start at the ground floor, maybe there would be an information desk, or at least some people who didn't just say "Can't talk to orange". Artemis looked at his t-shirt, maybe the orange colour was a message, telling people that he wasn't from round here. The lift beeped and Artemis stepped out.

There was a reception after all, Artemis mentally praised himself and walked up to the desk. He cleared his throat noisily and the receptionist looked up from her magazine.

"Good Morning Artemis, How are you? Mrs Asker will see you now" Said the receptionist, surprising Artemis.

"Um..err.. okay." Replied Artemis, appalled that he would actually stutter. He followed the receptionist into the chairwoman's office and the door shut behind him.


	3. Chapter 3 First Impressions

Cherub Chairwoman, Zara Asker, looked up from her paperwork and winked at the skinny boy before her. The name Zara Asker was written on a plaque on the edge of her desk, barely discernible beneath layers of paper.

"Good morning Artemis, did you sleep well?"

_Why Does everybody know my name?_ Artemis fowl junior thought to himself.

"Yes, very well thankyou, though I seem to be missing a few things." He wriggled his fingers, as if to emphasise the fact that there was one thing in particular he was talking about.

Zara chuckled. "Don't worry, its all safe and you will get it back later. There was one thing that caught my eye though, a particular ring. You don't strike me as the type of boy who wears jewellery, especially something so… distinct."

"It belonged to my mother." Artemis lied, keeping his mouth straight. " It's very special to me."

The chairwoman raised her eyebrows, noting the lie but not commenting. "Well then, take a seat by the fire Master Fowl, we have matters to discuss." She said quickly. Changing the subject.

She got up from her desk and walked calmly over to one of the chairs by the fire, Artemis followed and sat in the one opposite, tracing the floral pattern with his newly replaced index finger.

The fire was relaxing, Artemis wouldn't have been surprised if Zara suddenly put a blanket over her lap and started toasting something with a fork.

"So," Mrs Asker started, "The sleeping agent we put in your tea was quite mild. I don't think there were any ill effects to your system. Anyhow, I owe you an apology. You don't look like the type who gets drugged very often." She finished, allowing herself another chuckle.

Artemis shrugged, something he had never done before; and would probably never do again. "Looks can be deceiving." He replied.

Zara was quite shocked by his answer, this Fowl boy was very secretive, and not In the usual way.

"What are your first impressions of us here at CHERUB?" She asked, again, moving quickly from one subject to another.

Artemis knew that he was in no danger, but he kept quiet about what he knew. After all, _information is power._ And Artemis wasn't prepared to give up what power he had.

"I have not yet had a chance to explore the grounds yet. From what I have seen in the room I woke up in, this place is very well funded, for a kids home that is. But why put me to sleep at all?" He feigned confusion.

"I'll explain about CHERUB first, you can ask questions later. It is true, we are very well funded, we have about two hundred and eighty pupils, four swimming pools, six indoor tennis courts, an all-weather football field, a gymnasium and a shooting range, to name a few. We have a school on site with ten or fewer pupils per class. We make sure everyone learns at least two languages. Most of our students go on to top universities, as we get the best results. How would you feel about living here?"

Artemis's eyebrows shot up at that last question. Living? Here? At CHERUB? He knew he hadn't had the best life at home. Ever since his parents had died in a plane crash, he had been looking after his twin brothers at Fowl Manor, with the occasional help from Butler and Juliet.

The social services had left them alone, because Artemis, being legally nineteen, was now old enough to be a responsible parent. Also because of a little help from one of Foaly's "happy guns", which Artemis had "borrowed".

"What will happen to my brothers, Myles and Beckett?" He asked.

"They can come here as well, because obviously you aren't old enough to look after them on your own, though I am glad that they're your first concern." Zara smiled. Funnily enough, Artemis returned the favour, glad that his family would be safe..

"Well then, it would be a pleasure to stay here. As long as you don't bombard me with psychiatrists, like my old school did."

Zara roared with laughter, she thought it was a joke. " Yes, what did happen those three years you were missing? You were gone for so long, yet you came back, exactly the same."

"Well… not exactly the same." Countered Artemis. His left eye twitching, where Holly's hazel one used to be.

"No… not exactly, your left eye, now how did that happen?"

Artemis remained silent, he carried on tracing the furry pattern on the arm of his chair. He was surprised that Zara knew so much about him, but he didn't show it.

Zara knew that she had pushed him too far with the questions, and he wasn't going to answer her. So, for the third time that morning, she hastily changed the subject.

"There are a few requirements for you to get into CHERUB, the first being that you have to pass the entrance exam, which I'm sure a boy of your intellect could do easily," Artemis grinned slyly at that comment, " the second, a more unusual requirement, is that you have to agree to being a member of British intelligence.

Artemis wasn't surprised, in fact, his sly smile grew bigger and he nodded. As if he had known all along, which of course, being a boy of his intellect, he did.

"You're not surprised." Zara commented on Artemis's reaction, raising her left eyebrow. "No, of course you aren't . You know one thing, Artemis, people always ask, as soon as they come in, 'What does CHERUB stand for?' but you are the only one yet for me who hasn't. You are smarter than everyone says."

Artemis accepted the compliment with a slight nod. "I know. But you are not doing much good for my ego."

Zara smiled again, even though only minutes ago, she was freaked out by the pale boy in the opposite chair.

"Go on, enlighten me."

Artemis's sly grin returned as he spoke;

"Charles Henderson Espionage Research Unit B, founded by Charles Henderson in the second world war. He decided that children would be better spies than adults because they are more inconspicuous and attract less attention. If a strange adult turned up in town, asking for help, something would be immediately marked as wrong, but if a child showed up on the doorstep asking for help, no questions would be asked. Charles Henderson used this to spy on the Germans.

"Criminals have used this little party trick for years, but CHERUB turned the tables and now uses it to catch the said criminals. Charles Henderson died in nineteen forty six, but the organisation he had created lived on. That is all I know."

The chairwoman stared at him in disbelief as he finished. "Wow," she said, finally, "That was quite something."

"But I have a question." Began Artemis. " Why would you pick me?" He shifted to the edge of his chair and looked deep into Zara's dark brown eyes.

"Artemis," Zara replied, not intimidated by his hypnotising gaze, not that she was supposed to be. "We chose you because of your amazing intelligence. You are a genius, and so young. We don't want that to go to waste, not that you were going to of course, I'm sure." Another smile." We have always wanted to ask you here, even before your parents died." Artemis flinched at the mention of his parents.

"You have always been a wonder to us, we had a hard time tracking you down, and of course there was the time of the great twenty-twelve techno crash, where you disappeared for six months, yet you showed up again. Always."

Artemis was stunned, hadn't been aware of CHERUB following him. But these people were fascinating and he wanted to have a closer look at the inner workings of the organisation.

"I'm in." He said


	4. Chapter 4: The Trials

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I didn't actually know that people were reading this. Thanks for the support ;) I might update once a week from now on- but it will be hard because wifi at home hates me. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I haven't actually done one of these yet but if I was Robert Muchamore then I probably wouldn't be writing fanfiction for my own story. If I was Eoin Colfer then I would be awesome enough already, though I probably would write fanfiction for my own story. (Knowing him)**

After showing Artemis the rest of campus, Zara pulled up outside a huge Japanese building surrounded by gravel and colourful potted plants.

"This is the dojo." explained Zara. "Its where fifty percent of your training will take place, I know its grand, but you'll get used to it."

It isn't as half as grand as the one at Fowl Manor, thought Artemis,but he remained silent as he followed the chairwoman through the double doors at the entrance of the building. Inside, there were about ten kids being trained by a tall Japanese woman, who was screaming at them in a mangled stream of Japanese- from which, he managed to pick out the words "A-ho" (Idiots) and "Baka" (Morons).

"Delightful." He whispered under his breath.

Zara heard him and chuckled." It's supposed to be motivational, I'm sure she doesn't actually mean any of it."

The irish boy raised a sceptical eyebrow. Motivational? Really?

The chairwoman lead him to a room covered in a springy blue matting, which Artemis felt sink under his shoes. A young girl was doing stretches in the corner and she smiled as they walked in.

"Shoes and socks off!" Zara demanded.

"Huh?"

"Have you ever done martial arts before?"

Artemis remembered all the lessons which he had been forced into by the Butlers. Which he had promptly extracted from his brain the minute they were over- replacing them instead with knowledge of quantum physics and foreign languages.

D'arvit! I hate myself, I really do. Obviously it was some kind of test he had to pass to get into the school.

"No" Artemis lied, as it was more believable than the truth.

Zara nodded, "This is Molly," She said, gesturing, "She is going to spar with you."

Molly bowed to Artemis, who did the same. He shook her hand, which felt weak and skinny to the touch. Despite her light frame, Artemis wasn't fooled by her look. After all- he had lived with Juliet for six years , he knew not to under-estimate female fighters. Not to mention that his best friend- who could incapacitate him in a matter of seconds- was also a female.

"The first to win five submissions is the winner." Zara explained in a rehearsed, monotone voice, obviously she had said this to millions of people before him. "An opponent can submit by speaking or by tapping his hand on the mat. Either opponent can withdraw at any time. You can do anything to get a submission except hitting genitals or eye gouging. Do you understand?"

They both understood.

"Stand about two meters apart and prepare for the first bout."

Artemis shivered. He had been hit many times before, but only ever by one person. And it had always stopped hurting after a while. He mentally prepared himself for battle, though physically he was about as helpful as a stinkworm fighting a bull troll.

"Fight!"

Before the poor boy even had time to acknowledge the word, a hand smashed into his stomach. He doubled over in pain and was rewarded with a knee cap crunching into his face. He felt his lip burst and blood dripped to the floor. Head pounding and ears ringing, he managed to yell "I submit!" before collapsing in a heap on the spongy blue floor. If Butler ever hears about this then he will definitely kill me. The thought of an angry Butler was worse than the thought of being beaten up by a stranger, so, with that, Artemis crawled to his feet.

He tried. He really did.

Much to the surprise of his opponent- and to himself- Artemis swung a punch that almost reached it's target. The boy was aiming for Molly's nose, but instead he clipped her cheek with his knuckles, which probably hurt him more than it did her. She retaliated by flipping him over her hip, expertly landing him face down on the floor, before sitting on his back and twisting his arm painfully over his head.

"Do you submit?" She yelled.

Artemis moaned "yuurrgh" into the floor, dribbling slightly.

"I said, Do you submit!"

Again, he moaned into the floor. Showing quite clearly his great effort to give up.

"I'll break your arms if you don't submit!"

"Yes!" He gasped "Isubmit!I submit"

Molly let go of his floppy arm and climbed off his back, leaving Artemis panting on the floor with sweat dripping off his forehead and blood slipping down his chin. Not a pretty sight. He contemplated getting back up and trying again, but he would probably end up with two broken arms and a messed up face. Which he wasn't that desperate to have right now.

"I give up." He groaned, his voice merely a whisper. The boy grimaced at the thought of how undignified he must look at the moment, collapsed on the floor, dribbling, sweating and bleeding."I withdraw."

Lets just say he failed dramatically at standing up, Molly laughed at his strengthless attempt, until she stuck out a hand to help him up. He took it gratefully, wiping some of the blood off of his soiled clothes. He rubbed his forehead where a massive bruise had formed after he had hit it on the floor, there was no doubt that he would be in great pain tomorrow.

"You think that's bad?" Molly told him, "I broke three ribs sparring with my karate teacher."

And he didn't doubt it.


	5. Chapter 5: A Leap Of Faith

Artemis sat in a small room. The bright white walls, being only two meters apart from each other, gave him the impression that they were closing in, trying to trap him. He forced the feeling to the back of his mind and picked up the sharp pencil from the tiny desk in front of him.

He had been given forty-five minutes to complete a twelve page long paper that was supposed to test his knowledge on just about everything. This in itself was fine, but three minutes after starting time, the pencil in his left hand snapped at the end, leaving him with absolutely nothing to write with.

Artemis sighed. It had obviously been dropped from a great height before being given to him- testing his skills on practicality, as well as knowledge. He didn't want to ruin his nails but…

Shoulders drooping, the boy ripped off the wooden coating, revealing the carbon inside. It was fragile and cracked, but useable. Though it did leave a greyish layer between his index finger and thumb, which, even several days later, no amount of scrubbing could seem to remove.

The paper was finished with ten minutes to spare, in which Artemis was left twiddling his thumbs and watching people run and shout outside through the tiny porthole window.

His forehead throbbed from where his face had hit the ground. His lip had stopped bleeding over an hour ago, but he could still feel the dried blood that had spread across his cheek and crumbled whenever he moved his face. If anything, he longed for a shower to wash away all the sweat and stickiness that clung to his body.

When the time was up, Zara lead the boy down the corridor into a similar room, this one containing a desk, chair and birdcage.

Artemis frowned at the chicken behind bars. What was this? A circus?

"Please sit down." The chairwoman asked, perching herself on the edge of the desk, beside the cage. "Does this chicken look tasty to you?"

"Eeeaaar…" Artemis faltered. "It's still alive." He pointed out, mentally slapping himself for describing the obvious.

"What if you killed it?"

"Why? It's not doing anything wrong. It hasn't tried to kill me."

Zara shifted her position, cocking her head to the side. "Are you a vegetarian Artemis?"

"Yes, actually."

It was true. Holly had begged him and begged him until he complied. To an extent, he did actually agree with her. Why should we continue to kill animals when there are now better, nicer alternatives? Also, there was the fact that he was a hormonal teenager and would happily do anything to please her. Discreetly, of course.

"If you were stuck on an island with no food, and no hope of leaving for at least a month, would you eat an animal?"

"How often does that happen to people in CHERUB?"

"With surprising regularity."

Artemis drooped his head slightly, nodding. "Then yes, I would."

"To show your capability, I want you to kill it. Quickly, snap it's neck."

Artemis groaned inwardly, he knew this was going to happen.

"Artemis…?"

"Oh Frond, Holly would kill me if she ever found out about this."

"What?"

Artemis shook his head, Don't ask, and reached into the cage.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

The young Irish boy stood in front of a rope ladder, his orange t-shirt drenched in chicken blood, making his need for a shower more urgent with every passing second. The smell of chicken crap, blood and sweat was horrifying.

The rope ladder lead on to a long, metal pole, which Artemis presumed he had to crawl across. From there on there were more ladders, jumps and planks that lead high into the treetops. Seeming to be never ending.

"Great. More coordination skills." He realised that there were no safety nets, meaning he would have to climb twenty metres with nothing to catch him if he were to fall, no doubt he will. As a good friend of his would say, "That's gotta hurt more than a buzz baton to the bum flap!"

A friend who was also terrified of going over three metres into the air.

Artemis was introduced to his guides, two girls, Lauren and Bethany, who looked to be about one year older than him, meaning that he was born two years before them.

Bethany looked sceptically at the skinny boy in front of her. He looked like he had never seen a day of action before; he probably had a butler who did everything for him! _What would this stuck up, weedy kid be doing at CHERUB_? Lauren looked at her best friend's expression and shrugged. _Who knows what goes on in Zara's head nowadays?_

Bethany climbed the ladder first, with Lauren last, sandwiching Artemis in so that he didn't fall as he clumsily clambered up between them.

At the top, he breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down to see how far he had come, immediately regretting it. His whole body swayed and he felt Lauren protectively grab his shoulder, rooting him in place.

"Try not to fall; it will make my job a lot easier." Artemis nodded, suddenly speechless.

He navigated his way across the course with over calculated precision. _Thank Frond it is dry today!_ There's no way Artemis would have survived if the wood had been slippery with rain and algae.

A few minutes later, the boy had to climb another rope ladder. By this time, his hands were an angry red colour, with blisters forming on his palms and fingers, it hurt to touch anything- or even clench his fist. He had to carry on though, there was no way back. His foot tentatively touched the bottom rung as he spared another look towards the ground, , towards the crash mat of prickly bushes and dry leaves, towards the greedy trees with outstretched arms, eager to pull him off his perch.

"D'arvit! I should have listened to Butler!" He cursed out loud.

"Why? What did he say?" Bethany asked.

"I don't know… I wasn't listening." Horrifically slowly, the boy hefted himself a few centimetres higher. Reaching out with bruised arms, he looked like a sloth climbing a tree.

Eventually, he reached the top.

Puffing and wheezing, Artemis dragged his feet to where Bethany was standing, followed by a light footed Lauren who seemed to effortlessly mock his movements.

Bethany held out her open palm. The soldiers signal for "stop where you are." (Something Artemis had learnt in one of the rare moments he had actually listened to his bodyguard.)

He stopped and looked over his guides shoulder, eyes widening in shock. "You expect me to jump?" He asked in disbelief. His voice an octave higher than he would have hoped.

"Yes." Bethany ginned from ear to ear, and she stepped right over the edge of the grimy plank.

Artemis heard a yell from below. "Clear!" And felt a nudge at his shoulder.

"Your turn stinky!"

Artemis felt his shoulders droop, perspiration dripping off of his forehead in sheets.

Suddenly there was nothing supporting him underfoot , just the sky and the wind rushing past, biting at his face and snagging his clothes- threatening to pull them off completely. There was no time to think, no time to spread his arms out- like he had seen Butler do on many occasions.- because suddenly the ground crashed into him and everything was fine. Great in fact.

He was alive.


End file.
